Beyond the Mordant Channel

A haunted island lurks beyond the mists off the coast of the Imperial mainland — an island that none of the Imperial maps show as existing at all. Coastal dwellers saw the landmass take form one morning as the dawn mists parted, and with it came a strange cultural memory of legends half-remembered but impossible to commit to words.

Rumors surround the appearance of the island. Rustic folk say some now-nameless emperor had banished a cursed wife to the island. Others believe a forgotten conflict sundered the island from the imperial mainland, or that a now-forgotten kingdom once thrived on the island. Sorcerous advisors to the empire opine that a mystical ward had hidden the island but is waning in power. For certain, an imperial expedition to the island is being planned to discern more about it, but such operations are notoriously slow to set in motion.

In the wake of this strangeness, individuals of entrepreneurial spirit feel the call to action. Heroes may seek to protect the virtue of the empire, opportunistic adventurers may stake their own claim to lost lands or undiscovered treasures, and villains may take advantage of lawlessness to plumb new depths of evil. Whatever the individual’s motivation, though, the mystery of the inscrutable island now beckons.